The Past
by Dannigar
Summary: When one of Katniss' and Peeta's children wants to find out about their parent's past it becomes Austin's and his siblings job to reach the bottom of this.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Hunger Games characters except for the ones that I make up. The Hunger Games belong entirely to Suzanne Collins.**

Chapter 1:

The forest of District 12 is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on. There are so many plants and animals. Mom tells us stories of when she used to hunt in these areas. Not for fun of course, she did it to keep her family alive. Mom has never actually told us why her family was starving. She still thinks we're too young but someday I'll get to the bottom of this and I can't wait for that day.

Today, Mom and Dad brought us out for a picnic. I love when Mom and Dad bring us out for picnics… OH WAIT! I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Austin. I'm 14 years old. Mom gave birth to me a couple years after she got married with Dad. I keep asking about Mom and Dad's love life and how they met, but Mom will never tell me and neither will Dad. I have three other siblings. The twins are identical. You can't tell them apart. They both have Dad's blonde hair and Mom's grey eyes. Draco and Finn are their names and they're 11 years old. Then we have my little sister who's 8. Her name is Primrose, but we call her Prim. She looks exactly like Dad, blonde hair and blue eyes. Mom says she reminds her of our Auntie Prim. We have never met our Auntie Prim before… why is that? And as for me, I resemble Mom with my dark hair and grey eyes.

"When are we going to eat Daddy 'cause I'm starving?" asked Prim in her cute little southern accent. "Whenever Mommy is ready to go get some fresh meat," my father replied. My mother spoke up at this point in the conversation. "Alright Prim, I'll go get something for us to eat. Austin, want to come?" "Sure Mom." "Can we go Mom?" asked Finn. "Sure, come on guys." Mom beckoned the twins over. "We'll be back my sweet, little Prim." Mom gave Prim a quick kiss on the cheek and then walked over to Dad. "Peeta?" Mom asked.

"Yes Katniss?"

"How about a little kiss for good luck?" Dad responded by grabbing Mom and kissing her right on the lips. "EWW!" the twins groaned. Mom and Dad totally ignored them.

"See you in a bit then Peeta?" Mom asked when they finally separated.

"See you in a bit Katniss."

"Alright kids, let's go," Mom beckoned us to follow her. We made a quick stop by the tree where Mom kept her bow and her sheath of arrows. She swung the sheath over her shoulder and then gave the twins their bows and arrows and then lastly, mine. We walked through the forest quietly. Mom set up a few snares while we were walking but we never stopped somewhere for a long period of time. Finally, when it seemed like ages a buck came into view and Mom shot it down before I could even blink. It was a clean shot too, right in the eye. Mom went to retrieve it and we followed behind.

This buck would be enough to feed the whole family. There was no need to continue hunting so Mom went to check her snares and found two plump looking rabbits and then headed off into her clearing where she always skinned her meat.

Mom was a pro at skinning fresh game. I mean you should see her. With one quick and graceful movement it's all gone. It didn't take long to finish skinning our game so we had plenty of time to spare. With all the extra time Mom taught all of us to weave a basket with just our natural resources. We filled two of the baskets with blackberries and the other two with strawberries. We were sure going to have a feast tonight with all this fruit and game and the fresh cooked bread that Dad had brought along for the picnic. When our berry picking mission was accomplished we heading back the way to our picnic clearing.

We only had a couple more minutes till we arrived at the clearing when we came across this beautiful flower bed. I bent down to pick a couple for Prim when Mom let out an ear piercing scream. I looked around but nothing was wrong. It was just a typical day in the forest. When I turned my attention back to Mom she was wrapped in a tight ball and was rocking back and forth. My thoughts were interrupted when Dad rushed into the site with Prim right at his heels. Dad ran straight to Mom and sat her down in his lap and started talking to her in a gentle manor.

"Katniss, it's okay, what's wrong? Tell me what's wrong."

"HE'S BACK PEETA, HE'S BACK! THE… THE ROSE IT'S RIGHT THERE! WE CAN'T WIN THIS TIME PEETA. WE BARELY SCRAPED UP VICTORY LAST TIME! WE CAN'T DO IT AGAN PEETA, WE CAN'T DO IT AGAIN!" Mom was sobbing by now but screaming at the same time. Mom and Dad had these breakdowns every so often. Mom's were not so often, maybe once a month. Dad had them more frequently, maybe three times a month. The thing with Dad is he overcomes his quickly, but Mom, it takes awhile for Mom to overcome her breakdowns.

Dad was still trying to calm Mom down when I came back down to earth from my thoughts. "He's not back Katniss, you're just over reacting. Our kids won't have to go through what we had to go through." At this, Mom calmed down and gave Dad a big hug.

"Thank-you Peeta, thank-you."

"Anytime." But what was Dad talking about. 'Our kids won't have to go through what we had to go through.' What is that supposed to mean? I wasn't going to ask Mom or Dad, especially not after Mom's breakdown. I shrugged the though off. I'll ask later…later for sure.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for the ones that I make up. The Hunger games belong entirely to Suzanne Collins.**

Chapter 2:

The sunset was beautiful tonight. It was Dad's favorite part of the day. Mom and Dad always came outside during the sunset and just sat and watched it. Today we were all in the meadow. Mom leaning on Dad and us kids running around playing games. It was the perfect time of a perfect day. After the sun was down Mom and Dad just sat there. Pretty soon Mom sent us home and said that they would meet us there. I knew the reason they were sending us home was so they could talk about "adult" stuff. So I raced the twins and Prim home and then ran all the way back to the meadow. I got on my stomach at the very top of the meadow and listened to Mom and Dad's conversation.

"Katniss, we can't keep hiding the kids from the world. I know you're worried and all but it's safe now. The past is behind us. They won't have to go through what we had to go through." Mom sighed at this but there it was again. 'They won't have to go through what we had to go through.'

"Alright Peeta, we can start sending them to school next year. Austin's a smart boy, he'll catch on, we can send him to High School. As for the twins, well, I don't know what to do with them. We can send them to Middle School. They'll catch on… eventually. And Prim can go to 2nd grade." I would have to remind myself to tell the twins and Prim about school next year.

"But Katniss we need to decide when to tell them. We can't keep hiding our past from the kids. Austin already knows that something is fishy. And after your breakdown today, the twins and Prim must suspect that something's going on."

"I'll get back to you on that question but let's go home. I'm tired. We can talk about this tomorrow."

Alright Katniss." My parents were already starting to rise. I better hurry home quick. I jumped up and sprinted all the way home. When I got home the twins had already showered and were in their matching pajamas. "Where were you Austin? We were about to go get Mom and Dad," said Finn or was it Draco. I don't know but Mom needs to get them sweaters with their first name initial on it or something.

I ignored the question. "Is Prim in the shower?"

"Ya, but…"

"Listen up, tonight we are going to take a trip up to the attic."

"Mom says the attic is forbidden though, Austin."

"Ya, so that means Mom and Dad are hiding something. Haven't you noticed that Mom and Dad won't tell us anything about their past. Well, maybe something's up there that will help us get to the bottom of that."

"Alright we're in but what about Prim?" I honestly didn't know but it wouldn't hurt to let in Prim on this, right?

"While I'm in the shower it's your job to let Prim in on this but don't tell Mom and Dad about this okay?"

"Alright Austin." It's a good thing this conversation ended because right then the door slammed shut and Mom and Dad came upstairs. They went down the hallway and past their special room. We weren't allowed to go in there. Maybe after we learned about their past we would have the guts to go in there. Right now, I didn't. I was actually a little frightened about what I might find in their.

_(1 hour later)_

When I finished taking my shower I went to my room, put on my pajamas, set my alarm clock to 1:00 am, and crawled into bed. I was asleep as soon as the covers were over my body.

I awoke not by my alarm clock but by my mother's screams. I ran out of my bedroom and into the twin's room. They had also been woken up by our mother's screams. I beckoned them over and we all went to Prim's room to also find her awake. We beckoned to her and tip-toed into Mom and Dad's room. Mom was crying by now and Dad was telling her it would be okay and that it was just a nightmare. I don't know how Finn had the guts to do it but he said it loud and clear for everyone in the room to hear. "Mommy, are you ok?" Finn hadn't called Mom Mommy since he was 8. Mom apparently heard Finn over all of her sobbing and her eyes widened as she took in all of us standing there.

"I'm fine Finn, go back to bed. That goes for all of you." She pointed her finger at us. "Mom, I don't think you're fine," said Draco.

Dad spoke up at this statement. "Kat, stay here. I'm going to talk to the kids." Dad rarely called mom Kat and that was only when he felt it was needed. Mom nodded and Dad walked out of the room and into the hallway. We all followed him.

"Now kids, listen here, you have no idea what your mother and I have gone through. When the time is right we'll tell you about our past and childhood. You are too young… well Austin isn't but Finn, Draco, and Prim are. Maybe if you're patient we'll tell you soon. Just ignore Mom's screams okay, she'll stop. It's only temporarily, so it won't last long. Now kids go back to bed okay?"

"Yes Dad," we all replied. Dad turned around and headed back into his room. Once he was out of sight I beckoned everyone over to my room. I closed the door once everyone was inside.

"Alright now something is very fishy here. I bet all of you want to know as much about Mom and Dad's childhood as I do," I got everyone nodding at this statement.

"Well my fellow siblings, we are going into the attic tonight." Everyone was excited at this so we opened my bedroom door quietly, tip-toed down the hallway until we were standing right under the attic hatch. I was just tall enough to jump up and push it out of the way for us. I grabbed Prim and raised her up high enough to be able to crawl into the attic. I did the same for Finn and Draco. For me, Finn took hold of my hands, Draco took hold of Finn's feet and Prim did the same to Draco's feet. They all pushed and eventually we all got me in that. At first all I saw was junk but as I neared it I saw videos, letters, and other things that could hold valuable information.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except the ones that I make up, everything else belongs to Suzanne Collins.**

Chapter 3:

"Wow, look at all of these videos Austin," Finn said.

There were a lot of videos. They all were labeled different things. One video was labeled…

74 Hunger Games

Victors: Katniss Everdeen + Peeta Mellark

Another was labeled…

75 Hunger Games

Victors: n/a

Some were labeled about interviews and there was one labeled "Victory Tour," but there was one that caught my eye. It was labeled…

74 Hunger Games Reapings

What was a reaping? Well, I was about to find out. I beckoned everyone over and we climbed out of the attic and into my bedroom, shutting the door behind us. I stuck the video into the video player and we all watched intently.

At the beginning of the video there was a man talking about the history of Panem. I had never heard the history of Panem before and was surprised at some of the information the man gave us. The man said something about a rebellion against the Capitol and when the rebels lost, the Capitol initiated the Hunger Games to keep the Districts in line. What are the Hunger Games and why don't they happen anymore? I couldn't continue my thoughts though because at this point the reapings began. Apparently, reapings are when they call up the kids that will be in the annual Hunger Games.

The reapings began with District 1 and led up to District 12. When District 12 came around the citizens looked even more frightened than any other district had been. I noticed that a lot of the citizens were very small and frail. 12-18 year old kids were rounded up in pens and Uncle Haymitch wobbled onto the stage. He fell off of the stage once he was on it and passed out. That reminds me, I haven't seen Uncle Haymitch in a while, maybe I'll go pay him a visit tomorrow. A woman with pink hair came up to the stage and cried with glee, "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor! Now, let's begin with the ladies." She walked over to a large glass ball and dug around inside of it until she took a hold on a very neatly folded piece of paper. She walked up to a podium and read the name. "Primrose Everdeen." I knew that name. That was Auntie Prim's name, Mom's little sister.

I heard many cries of delight but there was a scream that stood out… it was Mom's scream. "NO!" The camera turned toward Mom and there she was, looking a lot younger of course, but that was my mom, I was sure of it. She started running towards Auntie Prim until she was right in front of her. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" My mom was volunteering for the Hunger Games, but I still had no idea what they were.

"No Katniss, I won't let you!" Auntie Prim was sobbing by now and grabbing a hold of Mom. "Prim let go!" Mom was trying to push Auntie Prim off her but she wouldn't budge. Finally a young man, probably about 17 or 18, grabbed Auntie Prim and pulled her off of Mom. "Up you go Catnip," he said. I had never met this man but Mom had obviously known him. Once Mom was up on stage all of the citizens of District 12 started to make this sign. I knew this sign. It ment good-bye to someone you love.

The lady with the pink hair came up once again but this time she picked out of the boy's glass ball. She walked over to the podium once she had a name and read it out loud. "Peeta Mellark." That was Dad's name. As soon as Dad was onstage and no one volunteered for him, the video shut off. We were all quiet, still trying to take in what we had just watched.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: All of these characters belong to Suzanne Collins, except for the ones that I make up.**

Chapter 4:

We were all still in a daze when we heard footsteps coming down the hall. The door swung open and there stood Mom holding a piece of rope, looking half-awake but half-asleep. "What are you kids still doing awake?"

"Umm, nothing Mom, why are you asking?" asked Finn as if nothing had happened.

"I'm asking because all of you are still up and it's 2:30 in the morning." Wow, time goes by fast. I wonder how long we were all sitting in a daze?

"We were just worried about you Mommy," said Prim with innocence in her voice. I love Prim, she can be the best person to help you in a situation like this.

"Thanks Prim, but I want all of you to go to bed now okay?"

"Okay Mom," we all said. With that said and done, Mom walked out of the doorway and back down the hallway. I never heard her bedroom door close though, and Mom and Dad always close their bedroom door, so before anyone could walk out I beckoned them all over and we walked down the hallway. We heard mumbling coming from Mom and Dad's special room so we all leaned against the door and listened to what was going on.

Apparently it was just Mom in there because we never heard Dad speak. "I'm so sorry my little duckling. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry Prim, I'm so sorry." I think Mom was silently crying because she wasn't talking anymore but there was muffled sounds coming from the room. Mom must be really light on her feet because we didn't notice when Mom walked to the door and swung it open. We all fell into the room with a thud and Mom stared at us wide-eyed as she realized that we were all there.

I took in the sight of the room and looked around. There were paintings hanging everywhere. Two books sat on a desk at the end of the room. One of them was open but I couldn't see what was on the page. What really caught my attention though, was a stunning black bow that hung on one side of the room. Next to it hung a sheath of arrows divided into three different areas. Wow, I wonder what Mom used those things for.

Mom still had the rope in her hand but she dropped it as soon as she saw us. I don't know what got into me but I blurted it out all of a sudden. "What are those?" I asked pointing to the bow and arrows.

Mom ignored the question and pointed all of us to the door. I knew what was going to happen. Mom was trying to hold in the anger but I knew it wouldn't work. As soon as we were out in the hallway, she let it out. "What were you kids thinking? I told you to go to bed! Why are you up anyway? Give me one good reason why you are up and we can forget this night ever happened!" Nobody spoke.

"We're sorry Mom," said Finn.

"Sorry doesn't cut it Finn… sorry never cuts it." Mom sat down and leaned against the wall. She took the rope and put it back in her hand and started making knots with it and then undoing the knots.

"Just go to bed and we can forget this night ever happened," Mom said, so we all walked back to our rooms but Mom stayed sitting where she was. She started to mumble again but all I caught before I closed my bedroom was, "I'm so sorry Finnick. I'm so sorry Prim. It's all my fault that you're…" But I didn't catch the ending because I closed my door too soon, but I know what Mom was going to say. 'It's all my fault that you're… dead.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from this story, except for my plot and the characters that I make up. **

Chapter 5:

I woke up the next morning at around 8:00 in the morning. Mom and Dad wake up really early. Usually around 6:00. One time, I woke up at that time to see what Mom and Dad do at such an hour. I discovered Mom singing to the Mocking-jays and Dad admiring how Mom can make the Mocking-jays silent with her voice.

I actually had forgotten about the whole incident last night with Mom and how all of us kids took a quick look at Mom and Dad's special room until I found Mom sitting in our living room. Dad must have been making breakfast because I heard banging and the sounds of pots coming from the kitchen. "Good morning, Austin," Mom said. Apparently Mom had kept her promise of forgetting last night ever happened. So I did the same.

"Good morning, Mom." Mom looked like she was going to say something but couldn't find the words to explain it. She finally found her words and began to speak again.

"Umm, well today your father and I were thinking that maybe we could go out for dinner today… as a, as a family." Mom hesitated at the end of her sentence. This caught me off guard because Mom and Dad had never let us go into town before. When we needed more groceries Mom usually stayed at home with us and Dad usually went to the store. I was at a loss for words so I cleared my throat and said as formally as I could, "Okay Mom." There was some awkward silence after this so I was glad when the twins and Prim showed up for breakfast. There were also at a loss for words when Mom told them the news, but after they took in the announcement that's all they wanted to talk about. We were so excited and couldn't wait for dinnertime.

_(Evening)_

Mom had wanted us to look decent when we went out to eat so she chose a nice shirt and some pants for me. The twins wore matching shirts and pants. Their hair was perfectly gelled back and you couldn't even tell them apart. Prim wore a cute little top and some pants. Mom and Dad also dressed formally. When we were all ready to go we all walked into town. Finn and Draco were awed at what they saw. All the lights, stores and restaurants were pretty amazing. I was surprised when kids and people ran up to Mom and Dad and always asked them the same questions. "Are you Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark?" Mom and Dad would always nod and then the person would pull out a piece of paper and ask them for their autograph.

When we arrived at the restaurant we got a table and waited patiently for the waiter or waitress. While we were waiting at our table a little boy about the age of 8 came up to our table. "Excuse me, but are you Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark?"

Dad responded with a playful tone. "We sure are, and what's your name, son?"

"My name's Eric."

"So Eric, what brings you here?" asked Dad

"Well, I just wanted to say thank-you."

"Do you have a specific reason why, Eric?" asked Dad

"Well, I actually do. I want to thank-you for saving my mommy and daddy." Eric said this with a faraway look in his eye.

"And why is that Eric?"

"Well, if it wasn't for you two, I might not even have been born and been able to have a wonderful family like I have."

"Well then, you're welcome Eric." Dad responded.

"Oh wait here, ok?"

"We're not going anywhere Eric," Dad replied playfully. I watched as Eric went back to his table to retrieve his mom and dad. He walked back towards us, holding his mother and father's hand.

"This is my mommy and daddy," said Eric.

"It's so nice to finally meet you , and of course it's an honor to be in the presence of the Mockingjay herself," said Eric's mother. Wait a minute, why did Eric's mother just call Mom "the Mockingjay," and why was it an honor to be in Mom's presence?

Mom interrupted me from my thoughts. "It's nice to meet you too. This is my son Austin," Mom said while gesturing towards me. I gave a small wave towards Eric's family.

"These are the twins, Finn and Draco." Mom gestured towards the twins. They waved towards the family with identical smiles on their identical faces. Why didn't I smile when I waved to them?

"And this is my daughter, Primrose." Mom gestured towards Prim.

"But you can call me Prim," Prim politely added.

"Well, it was nice to meet you but we better leave you so you can enjoy your dinner in peace," finished Eric's father. With that Eric's family turned around to walk back to their table but before they started walking back Eric jumped as though he had forgotten about something. He turned back around and dug something out of his pocket.

"I'm sorry to interrupt again but could you please sign these pictures." As Eric unfolded the first picture I noticed that it was of Mom, looking a lot younger, standing straight and tall with that stunning black bow in her hands and the sheath of arrows that was divided into three different areas slung across her back. Eric handed that picture to Mom and Mom signed it and then handed it back to Eric. As he unfolded the second picture I saw it was of my Dad looking young and smiling straight into the camera. Eric handed that one to Dad and Dad signed it. The third picture was of Mom and Dad looking about 16 or 17. They looked like they were in the forest and hadn't taken a shower in weeks. They were sitting back to back and one of their hands was outstretched holding some berries that I had never seen before. Eric handed it to Mom and Mom signed something on it. I looked at at and she had written her name their but she had written something else on it. In the bottom right-hand corner she had wrote…

One…

Two was missing.

Three…

Under that was written…

Ladies and gentlemen. may I introduce to you the victors of the 74 Hunger Games…

Mom handed the picture to Dad and Dad filled up all the empty spaces along with writing his name. This is what the finished project looked like.

One…

Two…

Three…

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you the victors of the 74 Hunger Games…

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark of District 12!

I was puzzled but Mom and Dad looked satisfied with their work. They handed it back to Eric and he looked at the picture in awe and then he spoke up. "I remember that part. I watched your games a couple weeks ago. At first they frightened me, but then I got used to them. I thought you were going to die Peeta when Cato almost suffocated you. You two were so amazing. It was so brilliant to bring out that Nightlock, Katniss. If they wouldn't let both of you live then none of you would live! You are brilliant Katniss!"

"Well thanks Eric." Mom said.

"Thanks for signing those pictures. I better get back to my family now. Bye!"

"Bye Eric," said Mom and Dad together waving good-bye to Eric. I was completely puzzled. Some 8 year old boy knew about my parent's past and I was their son and 14 years old and I didn't even know about! That's it, I'm going to find out about my parent's past whether my parents like it or not!


End file.
